La Liga Allows Highest Game Time To Domestic Players At 56.1%; Premier League Is Worst
Among the top European football leagues, La Liga performs best in giving game time to domestic players. According to the numbers put together by SafeBettingSites.com, La Liga clubs gave a combined 56.1% of the entire game time to Spanish players in 2022/23.
Premier League Clubs Only Gave 31.5% Playing Time To English Players
Out of the top five European football leagues, La Liga is a clear leader when it comes to giving playing time to local or domestic players. According to our calculations, Spanish players played 56.1% of the entire game time in the league last season.
Ligue 1 and Bundesliga are next on our graph, and they post almost identical numbers. French players played 41.8% of the entire playing time in Ligue 1 last season, whereas German players played for 41.6% of the season.
In Serie A 2022-23, Italian players only got 34.2% of playing time. The Premier League was the worst when it comes to giving playing time to domestic players at 31.5%.
The amount of time afforded to domestic players in various leagues is also affected by different rules regarding foreign players in different leagues.
For example, in La Liga, clubs are allowed to sign five non-EU players. However, they must name up to three non-EU players in each matchday squad. Meanwhile, Serie A dictates that clubs should have a minimum of eight Italian players, with at least four from youth teams.
English Players’ Lowest Playing Time In PL In Last Four Years
Looking at the data from recent years reveals several trends. One noticeable pattern is that La Liga generally gives the highest exposure to its domestic players while Premier League usually finds itself at the other end.
Furthermore, domestic representation seems to be on the decline in the last two-three seasons in all top leagues except Bundesliga. Alternatively, the period from 2019 to 2021 witnessed a rise in playing time afforded to domestic players in these leagues.
According to Vyom Chaudhary, a football expert at SafeBettingSites.com, “This could very well be down to COVID-19. As the football world struggled economically due to COVID, there was very little transfer activity in 2020. This prompted clubs across Europe to rely more on domestic talent and youth academies. However, the last couple of years have witnessed a transfer frenzy, especially in the Premier League. As the Premier League clubs continue to accumulate all the top global talent, the domestic talent is getting fewer opportunities.”
